Finance minister rules out difficulties in foreign payments

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar on Thursday said foreign exchange reserves of the country currently stood at more than $10 billion.

There is no issue of the foreign payments, Shamshad Akhtar said while talking to media after attending a seminar on sustainable development goals.

She, however, said pressure on foreign payments would rise during the next quarter of the current fiscal year.

The finance minister said working on a program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is in progress and the incoming government would be apprised about the whole situation.

She said collaboration with IMF is important to further strengthen the economic indicators and it is not appropriate to term the IMF program as a bailout package.

The minister said China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a developmental program and it has no relation with the IMF.

The Ministry of Planning Development and Reforms hosted the seminar to highlight the state of different indexes and steps being taken to achieve the goals set under SDGs for uplift of common man in the country.

Shamshad Akhtar, addressing the event, said SDGs help in collecting data about different indicators for proper policy formulation to ensure development and welfare of common man in the country.

She said participation of local communities through non-governmental organisation and local government system was prerequisite to achieve the SDGs. Sindh government has taken several steps for development of community organizations, she added.

She said national economy is passing through a crucial phase as current account deficit and fiscal deficit are at the highest point in economic history of the country.

She stressed the need for rationalising the resources among the federation and provinces and called for the capacity building of the provincial governments and putting responsibilities on them for rapid socioeconomic development.